The present invention relates to dental porcelain furnaces. In a typical dental porcelain firing cycle, the porcelain work piece is placed on a firing table and then is slowly moved into a furnace chamber that is preheated to a starting temperature. The starting temperature, or entry temperature, of the furnace chamber is typically around 500 degrees Celsius. Once the work piece is in the chamber, air is evacuated from the chamber via an external vacuum pump. Then the temperature is raised, typically to approximately 750 to 1050 degrees Celsius, and the work piece is held at that temperature for a specified amount of time. At the end of the firing cycle, the work piece is moved out of the furnace chamber and is removed from the firing table. Before another work piece is run through the firing cycle, the operator waits until the furnace chamber cools down to the starting temperature.